The Crusader Crisis
by Astrobrony
Summary: Part of the "Tales From Behind the Scenes" series. During the summer hiatus, a life changing event threatens to break the Cutie Mark Crusaders apart for good.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **This is the fourth story in my "Tales From Behind the Scenes" series. The other previous installments are _The Best Night Ever [repeat], Magical Mystery Drama, _and _Lyra's Big Idea_. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**The Crusader Crisis**

_By: Astrobrony_

**Chapter 1 - Under A Shining Star**

Rarity was near her breaking point that night. It was bad enough that she had to have been dragged out to the middle of nowhere once again for another camping trip. But now, much like the events of the first camping trip, she, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were all being subjected to another round of campfire songs by her little sister, Sweetie Belle.

_"49 buckets of oats on the wall!_

_49 buckets of oats!_

_Take one down, pass it around,_

_48 buckets of oats on the wall!"_

Rarity could barely take it anymore. She was exhausted and stressed out from the long trek to the campsite, and Sweetie's campfire song was only making her growing headache worse. If it were up to her, she would have been back in her nice, comfortable bed back at Carousel Boutique. However, she had let herself to be convinced to go on another camping trip, this time to celebrate Apple Bloom's birthday. She resisted at first, as everypony had expected, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash convinced her that it would be a great opportunity to get away and relax during the hiatus which, thus far had been anything but relaxing.

Everypony had successfully managed to dodge not one but two major show crises in the past few months. Rarity remembered the chaos that was the season three finale which needed an emergency rewrite thanks to Twilight's accident that turned her into an alicorn. That was followed by all the hoopla that was Lyra's movie, Equestria Girls. Thankfully, both situations resolved themselves fairly neatly all things considered. Yes, it had been a very interesting few months for everypony, and after everything quieted down after Equestria Girls, Pinkie Pie decided to give everypony a few months off to unwind from the show for a while before they begun season four later that fall.

With no show to worry about, everypony was able to make the most of the downtime. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, meanwhile, were busier than ever with their seemingly never-ending ideas to get their cutie marks. Apple Bloom had tried to push her fellow Crusaders a bit harder in order to get her cutie mark before her birthday. Of course, none of their plans worked and all three of them were nowhere closer to getting their cutie marks.

Apple Bloom felt a bit down going another year without a cutie mark, so Applejack decided to cheer her up with another camping trip, like the one they had based the episode "Sleepless in Ponyville" on. The only difference between the episode and the actual first trip was that Rainbow Dash was the one who went through bouts of insomnia by nightmares brought about from Scootaloo's scary stories. So for this camping trip, Scootaloo tried again to tell a scary campfire story, in part to see if Rainbow Dash could handle a scary campfire story. Unfortunately once again, the story made Rainbow Dash delay everypony's bedtime as she tried desperately to stay awake. This meant, like last time, Sweetie Belle took center stage by singing campfire songs.

_"43 buckets of oats on the wall!_

_43 buckets of oats!_

_Take one down, pass it around!_

_42 buckets of oats on the wall!"_

As the song continued, Applejack, Rarity, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were all looking worn out from having to listen to the song. Applejack was on the verge of dozing off and Rarity held her hooves to her head, trying to massage away the migraine that had grown over the past 25 or so buckets of oats. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, kept smiling and moving her head to the music.

Apple Bloom looked over to Scootaloo. "Did we get our cutie marks in being-annoyed-to-death yet?"

Scootaloo checked her flank. "Nope."

"Pleeease make it stop," Rarity whined. She covered her ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise.

"What are you guys talking about? This song is awesome!" Rainbow Dash grinned nervously, bobbing her head back and forth to the song.

Applejack sighed. "That's it, Scootaloo. No more scary stories. I don't think Dash can take anymore."

Scootaloo groaned. "But I wanted to tell the one with Fluttershy and her shed."

Rainbow Dash's eye twitched. "Sh-sh-sh-shed?" she stammered.

During all this, Sweetie Belle continued happily singing, oblivious to her audience's apathetic reception to her performance.

_"39 Buckets of oats on the wall!_

_39 buckets of oooaaatsss..."_

Enough was enough. Rarity had to stop this headache. "All right, Sweetie Belle! I think that's more than enough!" she shouted, bringing an abrupt end to her sister's song.

"Aww, But I had a great encore!" Sweetie Belle pouted.

Rarity frowned. "No more encores, Sweetie Belle. It's getting late, and everypony needs to get their sleep."

"All right," Sweetie Belle sulked for a moment before perking right back up with a suggestion. "Well, can I pick up where I left off tomorrow then? Or I can take requests for another song I can sing while we travel back to Ponyville!"

Rarity cringed. The headache she got from Sweetie Belle's little sing-along was bad enough, but the thought of being subjected to it on the long trek back to town would simply drive her insane.

"You know Sweetie Belle, I'm sorry. But I would prefer if you stayed quiet for the rest of the trip. Your singing is giving me a headache."

The other five campers' did a double take at Rarity's blunt statement. Sweetie Belle, in particular, was stunned beyond belief.

"A headache? Was my singing really that bad, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked in a small voice.

Rarity nodded. Maybe it was her own exhausted state or her own desire to get back to Ponyville as fast and painlessly as possible, but Rarity decided to be more direct with Sweetie Belle's singing talents, or lack thereof.

Sweetie Belle couldn't understand. "But... I thought everypony liked it when I sing. What's so different now?"

"We can talk about this tomorrow. Let's get some sleep ok?" Rarity replied, turning back towards her ornate camping tent.

Sweetie Belle nearly complied with her older sister. However, a different feeling began to well up in her. Singing made her happy and it seemed like everypony enjoyed it when she sung. And now, the most important pony in her life was telling her that her singing was actually a pain? No way, she thought. She didn't need to go to bed. She needed answers.

"No! I'm not going to bed. I want to talk about this now, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle frowned.

Watching from the other side of the campfire, the other four ponies cringed as the argument started to escalate. They tried to speak up, but the two unicorns were so lost in their debate that they were certain they wouldn't be heard. They continued to watch helplessly.

Rarity groaned. "Sweetie Belle, I don't want to argue this right now."

"Well can you at least tell me why everypony thinks I'm not a good singer?" The unicorn filly suddenly glared at her older sister. "Or is it just you who thinks that?"

Rarity stammered as the tables suddenly turned against her. "Wait! I'm not the one on trial here!"

"Tell me Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted.

Rarity frowned. "Well, you haven't made a memorable impression when I've heard you sing. Honestly, do you _have_ to sing so loud, anyway? They probably heard you all the way out in Canterlot!"

"Well, excuse me for trying to impress you!"

"I can't say there was much to be impressed about," Rarity muttered under her breath. She went back to answer her younger sister. "Why do you insist on 'impressing' me, anyway? Can't you go impress Twilight, or Pinkie, or the bronies instead?"

Tears started to streak down from Sweetie Belle's eyes. "Because none of them are my sister! That's why!"

"Oh, you're not using that excuse on me again, young filly! This isn't the Sisterhooves Social. In fact, if you really want to go there, I should mention how rude it is for you not to consider my feelings. Your singing is a nuisance, and I would prefer if you stayed quiet for once so I can get some sleep!"

Everypony was shocked as Rarity put her sister's talents down like that. Rarity was too tired to think about what she was saying. The only thing on her mind was she wanted sleep, and she wanted it now. Sweetie Belle glared at her sister for a few tense moments. She wanted to counter Rarity's last point but, with tears flowing down her face, she shut her eyes, lowered her head in defeat, and began to slowly walk away from the campsite.

"Ok, Rarity. Whatever makes you happy." she said sadly.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other in concern. "Hey, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked, "We're coming with you."

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Sorry girls. I want to be alone right now. I... I don't want to bother anypony." Sweetie Belle choked back her oncoming tears. Before her fellow Crusaders could respond, Sweetie Belle ran off away from the others, towards the nearby lake.

"Ugh, finally!" Rarity groaned. She didn't notice the tears from her sister. The only thing that mattered was that she now had peace and quiet, meaning she could finally get a good night's rest for the first time on this accursed camping trip. "I'm going to bed. Good night everypony." She started making her way to her camping tent.

"A-HEM!" Rarity heard the sound of Applejack clearing her throat loudly towards her. She turned around to see the disapproving frowns from the other four campers.

"Why is everypony looking at me like that? What did I do?" Rarity asked.

"Seriously?" Apple Bloom deadpanned.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Sweetie Belle back there, Rarity?" Applejack asked.

Rarity groaned again. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood right now. I'm tired and I'm sore from walking all over this stupid forest!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "We get it, you're not an outdoors pony. But still, what you said to Sweetie Belle wasn't cool at all."

"Well, she always wanted to know what I thought of her singing, so I simply told her," Rarity explained.

"But Sweetie Belle is a fantastic singer!" Scootaloo objected.

"She really is!" Apple Bloom added. "She helped me and Scootaloo through the 'Babs Seed' song this past year, and she also helped me get through my part of 'Raise This Barn' too! Remember how nervous Ah was Applejack?"

"Ah sure do, sugarcube." Applejack chuckled a bit as she remembered how much Apple Bloom was fretting over the possibility of ruining her big sister's big musical solo debut during her own part, and how Sweetie Belle helped her get over her nerves.

"Besides," Rainbow Dash added, "You have to admit that Sweetie Belle did do a good job with the 'Perfect Stallion' song."

Rarity hesitated to respond for a second. "I wouldn't know… I never saw it."

"WHAT?!" everypony shouted in disbelief.

"I just couldn't bear to see her embarrass herself, so I always skip over that part of the episode," Rarity explained.

"So you mean to say that you've _never_ heard Sweetie Belle sing, Rarity?" Applejack asked in disbelief.

"I've heard her sing plenty of times!" Rarity answered defiantly. "And every time I try to listen to her sing, loudly I might add, I end up with a headache."

"That's not how she really sings!" Apple Bloom protested. "She just really wants to impress you!"

"Yeah, I think that Sweetie Belle's the best singer in Ponyville!" Scootaloo added.

Rarity scoffed at that notion. "Best singer in Ponyville? Do I need to bring up 'Art of the Dress' or 'Becoming Popular' once more? I think it's plainly obvious that _I_ am one of, if not _the_ best singer in Ponyville."

"Says the pony who didn't get an episode in season three," Scootaloo muttered under her breath.

Rarity's ear twitched as she caught the snide remark. Her face grew red with rage. "Why you little..."

Before the situation escalated any further, Applejack and Rainbow Dash broke the two sides up, Applejack restrained Rarity at lunging at the two fillies while Rainbow Dash held Scootaloo and Apple Bloom from retaliating.

"Ok, I think this is the part of the show where everypony apologizes now," Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously.

"Yes. I believe it is." Rarity glared at the two crusaders.

"Starting with you apologizing to Sweetie Belle," Applejack said, nudging the unicorn towards where her little sister went off.

"What?" Rarity shouted.

"At the very least, you broke her feelings," Applejack pointed out. "You should at least apologize for that."

"Yeah. She didn't do anything wrong, after all," Rainbow Dash added. "She was just having fun."

"Couldn't it wait until morning?" Rarity asked sheepishly.

The angry frowns from the four campers answered her question. She sighed in defeat and turned towards the lake.

"All right, fine! I'll go apologize," she said, dragging her hooves away from the campsite. _The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get some sleep,_ she thought. It didn't take her very long to notice the others following her. "I can apologize by myself, you know," she told them.

"We know," Rainbow Dash said. "But we're still coming with you anyway."

"Fine," Rarity groaned. She barely had any energy to whine anymore. She should just let them monitor her apology. Anything that would get her to sleep as quickly as possible. As far as Rarity was concerned, this camping trip could not end fast enough.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the lake, Sweetie Belle wiped the last tears from her eyes. Truth be told, she was already afraid that her sister viewed her as a nuisance. But to have that fear confirmed like that was too much for the young filly to take. All she wanted was to spend time with her big sister, the same way Apple Bloom does with Applejack, or Scootaloo with Rainbow Dash. The latter was particularly troubling for Sweetie Belle since for as little time the two pegasi had been 'sisters', they seemed to be engaging in more sisterly activities then she and Rarity did over the past three years. While her two best friends had big sisters whom they can share their lives with, she was stuck with a sister who would rather distance herself from her apparently uncouth little sister, especially over the one activity she enjoyed the most. It wasn't fair.

Maybe that was why she always tries so hard (perhaps too hard at times) to impress Rarity with her singing. One of her first memories as a foal, after all, was hearing Rarity's beautiful voice singing her to sleep and she'd been trying to emulate it ever since she began to speak. She had always been impressed with Rarity's singing talents and she had wished that she could one day sing with her big sister. She longed for that one special moment with her sister. Yes, the Sisterhooves Social was fun, but she wanted a moment with Rarity that was profoundly special. Now it looked like she would never get that chance.

Sweetie Belle opened her eyes after she finished sobbing and she looked up to the sky. Usually, Luna's night sky would be decorated by the moon and all the stars. That particular night, unfortunately, turned out to be cloudy, blocking most of the stars in the sky. It figured that she didn't even have Luna's beautiful night to cheer her up tonight, she thought. The cloudy sky only enhance the young unicorn's already depressed state. In the dark, however, she noticed a noticeable twinkling in one corner of the sky. Peaking through the clouds was one single star, seemingly alone in the vast, infinite sky.

"Looks like I'm not the only one alone tonight," Sweetie Belle remarked.

As she continued looking up at the star, a memory popped into her head. It was a lullaby. One of the lullabies Rarity sung to her when she was a foal. It was a song that had stuck with her all these years. She began to softly hum the song to herself. It seemed a bit silly for her to sing after Rarity had said her singing was not good. However, this particular song wasn't going to be for Rarity. It was for herself. Herself and the one little star.

The humming Sweetie Belle's tune caught Rarity's ears as she and the others arrived at the lake. They were too far away for her to notice them arriving, but they could all hear Sweetie Belle's humming. They all stopped for a moment to listen. The humming was soft and a little sullen, but most of all, as Rarity suddenly realized, it was beautiful. Rarity's heart nearly stopped as she heard the melody. This was the first time she had ever heard her little sister sing like this. And it sounded wonderful!

"What's she humming?" Apple Bloom whispered, not wanting to interrupt the beautiful melody.

"That's my lullaby," Rarity said in awe.

"What was that about Sweetie Belle not being a good singer?" Scootaloo smirked.

"Shhh!" Rarity hushed everypony. She had to hear this for herself. She wanted to hear her little sister sing. She didn't have to wait long as she heard Sweetie Belle start to sing to the sky.

"_One little star, all alone in the sky, _

_Do you ever get lonely, as the twilight drifts by?_"

Tears welled up in Rarity's eyes. She remembered this song. She had sung it herself when she was Sweetie Belle's age when she felt lonely thanks to her parents frequent trips out of town. After Sweetie Belle was born, she used the song as a lullaby to her then-baby sister. She couldn't believe that Sweetie Belle had remembered it all these years later. As Sweetie Belle continued to sing, Rarity finally realized the true talents of her little sister. She also realized how much of a fool she herself had been to her.

Rarity covered her mouth with one hoof as she tried to stop herself from crying. "Oh Sweetie Belle..."

_"One little star, in the darkening blue, _

_Do you long for another, just the way that I do?"_

Rarity took a couple of steps towards her sister as she sung. Before she knew it, Rarity found herself singing along as well.

_"Sky begins to fill, darkness ends the day, _

_Someone who I love is far away."_

Sweetie Belle trailed off into stunned silence as she heard a second voice singing alongside her. She turned around to see her big sister walking towards her as she finished singing the last line. Her fellow crusaders and their big sisters stayed behind, watching everything in silence. Through soft tear-filled eyes, Rarity smiled at her sister, silently nodding her approval.

Sweetie Belle didn't know what caused this change of heart. She didn't know how long she was listening or if she was being followed the whole time. However, all that didn't matter anymore. Rarity was here, and she now wanted to hear her sing. Sweetie Belle smiled back at her big sister. This was what she wanted. To share an experience with her sister from deep in their hearts. She had always dreamed of this moment, and now it was really happening. And it felt... right. The two sisters closed their eyes and sang the rest of the song together. It seemed like the star flashed brighter for a split second as well as they sung their duet.

_"One little star, reaching far through the night, _

_Do you shine on my someone? Are we sharing your light? _

_Oh, one little star, shine on us both tonight."_

With the song finished, Rarity and Sweetie Belle hugged.

"I was wrong, Sweetie Belle. I was so terribly, terribly wrong," she confessed. "Could you find it in your heart to forgive your stupid sister?"

Sweetie Belle giggled. "I already have."

"I love you, Sweetie Belle."

"I love you too, Rarity."

After the nice loving embrace, Rarity looked up to see where the others were. The four of them all had matching shocked expressions. Their jaws were dropped wide open and their eyes were shrunken down into pinpricks. Rarity found this reaction odd.

"Why is everypony looking at us like that?" Rarity asked. "This isn't the first time two sisters fought and made up."

"Uh.. uh... uh..." For some unknown reason, Applejack was at a loss for words, in of itself a rarity of its own. She couldn't understand what she and everypony else was reacting to.

"Is everything all right?" Rarity asked.

"Sweetie Belle! LOOK!" Scootaloo pointed at the young unicorn.

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked. She didn't know why Scootaloo was pointing at her specifically. She gave herself a quick inspection. Her mane. Her hooves. Her tail. Her blank flank...

...with a symbol of a musical note surrounded by a heart?

Sweetie Belle blinked several times. She touched her flank to see if it was just an elaborate prank. The symbol didn't change. It wasn't an illusion. It was real.

It was her cutie mark.

Apple Bloom couldn't contain her smile. "You did it, Sweetie Belle! You did it!"

Rarity gasped as she noticed the symbol for herself. "Sweetie Belle! You... you got your cutie mark!" she shouted in delight.

Sweetie Belle's brain froze for a few moments. When did this happen? HOW did this happen? She replayed the last few minutes in her mind. The fight. The song. The duet. The hug. The flash from the star. Wait a minute. Maybe that flash wasn't from the star. Maybe the flash was from her! But how come she never felt anything? She had always imagined that she would definitely feel it when it finally appeared. She had often wondered if it would be painful. But she didn't feel anything. Now that she thought about it, the moment was kind of underwhelming all things considered. She had always figured that there would be some sort of ceremony accompanying her cutie mark's appearance, or a transformation sequence, or...

Wait, why was she even thinking about all that? None of that nonsense mattered anymore. She got her cutie mark!

"I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!"

Sweetie Belle let out an over exuberant scream. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo quickly joined Rarity in mobbing Sweetie Belle in a boisterous, celebratory group hug. As the four ponies celebrated Sweetie Belle's accomplishment, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked on, still shocked at what they had witnessed.

"We have a Cutie Mark Crusader… _with_ a cutie mark," Rainbow Dash remarked.

"This _is_ a good thing, right?" Applejack wondered.

"For Sweetie Belle, yes. For the show, however..." Rainbow trailed off. She couldn't even began to comprehend the consequences this turn of events would have.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think this could be for the show?" Applejack asked.

"Over 9,000," Rainbow snarked semi-seriously.

"Ah was afraid you'd say that." Applejack sighed.

The two ponies looked on at the celebration nervously. They wanted to be excited for Sweetie Belle. Heck, they were thrilled for her! But they both knew that the joy and jubilation wouldn't last. They all still had a show to go back to. And in that show, a cutie mark crusader with a cutie mark simply could not work. Several questions swam in their heads, about the show, about Sweetie Belle and how things could end up for both. But the most pressing question of the moment struck both Rainbow Dash and Applejack hard.

How in the world were they going to break this to Pinkie Pie?

* * *

_"One Little Star" is from Sesame Street: Follow That Bird._


	2. Chapter 2

**The Crusader Crisis**

**Chapter 2 - The Day After**

The jubilant atmosphere from Sweetie Belle's accomplishment carried over to the following morning. The campers got up bright and early to get back into town as soon as possible. The big sisters, including Rarity by surprise, carried all their equipment to town, giving the fillies more time to revel in the occasion. Sweetie Belle couldn't wait to tell everypony the good news, and Rarity wanted to get straight to work in planning her little sister's long-awaited cute-cenera. However, the cute-cenera would have to wait for a short while as Rainbow Dash and Applejack reminded her of the consequences the events of last night have on 'Friendship is Magic'.

"Do we really have to involve Pinkie Pie in this so soon?" Rarity whispered, making sure her sisters and her fellow Crusader friends could not hear her conversation.

"Ah'm sorry Rarity," Applejack whispered back, "But we can't hide this from her, especially after the summer we've had."

"Think about it, Rarity," Rainbow started to point out. "A cutie mark crusader who suddenly shows up with a cutie mark. That's like a divide by zero error. We can't pretend that nothing ever happened."

"Well, perhaps we can write it in," Rarity suggested. "That's how we dealt with Twilight's wings, right?"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "We were going to write it out before Hasbro forced us to keep it in, remember? At any rate, this goes a bit deeper than that. Sweetie Belle is still trying ti figure out who she is in the show, right? She can't do that if she already has a cutie mark."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Rainbow's right. Sweetie Belle's gonna have to cover her cutie mark up, or at least have a changeling play her part."

Rarity sighed sadly. The two had a point. "Either way Sweetie's going to be crushed. I guess I will tell her."

Applejack shook her head. "Don't, Rarity. Rainbow and I will talk to Pinkie. You go and plan her cute-cenera. Celebrate with her for now. This is her moment. We shouldn't ruin it... at least not yet."

While the elder sisters continued their conversation, their younger siblings carried on a conversation of their own, all three fillies still awestruck over the new cutie mark. Sweetie Belle had been so engrossed with her cutie mark, going over every single minuscule detail.

"Look! The color scheme matches my mane!" she squeaked excitedly. "It's like this cutie mark was made for me."

"That's sort of what a cutie mark is," Scootaloo laughed.

"I can't wait to tell Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They're gonna freak out!" Sweetie Belle smiled.

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. "I can't wait to get back either. Ah want to get back to crusading as soon as we get home."

Scootaloo was a little confused at Apple Bloom's eagerness. "Don't you want to relax a bit before we go crusading again?"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "You see, now that Sweetie Belle has her cutie mark, it's only a matter of time before we get ours too!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Scootaloo shouted. "So what do you think we should try when we get back, Apple Bloom?"

"Well, Ah heard Applejack talking about the bull riders from the rodeo last year. Maybe we could try that?"

"That sounds awesome!" Scootaloo shouted. However, she felt a bit worried from the suggestion. "Isn't that really dangerous, though?"

"Ah know," Apple Bloom conceded, "But Ah was thinking we could work our way up to it. Try riding smaller animals until we're ready for the big one!"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Well, it can't hurt to try. What do you say, Sweetie Belle?"

Sweetie Belle slowed her pace as a sudden thought came to her head. "You know something girls? It just hit me that now I have my cutie mark, I don't have to go crusading anymore."

The other two fillies stopped in their tracks as Sweetie Belle's realization hit them too.

"Whoa, you're right. I never thought about that." Scootaloo said stunned.

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah, it's going to be weird crusading without you, Sweetie Belle. Ah'm sorry if you're feeling left out."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "It's ok. I understand. Hey, I could still cheer you on."

"That's a great idea Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom shouted. "You can be a Cutie-Mark-Crusader-Cheerleader!"

"But Sweetie Belle already has a cutie mark!" Scootaloo pointed out. "She don't need another one. We don't need another Cutie Pox scare. You remember what happened, right?"

Apple Bloom frowned. "Yes. Ah remember the Cutie Pox scare. We wrote the whole thing into the show, after all." It was much to Apple Bloom's dismay that she remembered the incident that the episode was based on, and how the incident was _worse_ than what was depicted in the show, with cutie marks covering every inch of her yellow coat before she finally confessed the truth. She quickly shook away any lingering memories of the incident.

"At any rate," Sweetie Belle spoke out, "I don't think I can even catch the Cutie Pox if I have a cutie mark, so I think we don't have to worry about it that much."

"Thank goodness!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Ah don't want to go through that ever again!"

"How did things get so out of control back then anyway?" Scootaloo wondered. "Zecora said that it was rare to have a case of Cutie Pox that bad."

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. "Well, maybe it has to do with Apple Bloom herself."

Apple Bloom frowned again. Her pace suddenly got a tad bit quicker as she pretended she ignored the conversation.

"Really? How so?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well," Sweetie Belle began to speculate. "She wants to get her cutie mark so badly that she's willing to try her hoof at just about anything, right? Maybe that's why her bout with the Cutie Pox was so bad. It's because she's so desperate to get any cutie mark."

Apple Bloom couldn't pretend to ignore any longer. She stopped in her tracks, and turned around to the unicorn filly in anger to defend herself. "Who are ya callin' 'desperate'?"

Sweetie Belle was taken aback slightly by the yellow filly's confrontation. "Well, I was just wondering why your cutie pox episode got so bad. That's all." she explained.

"Well, Ah think that was a silly idea." Apple Bloom huffed. "Nopony knows anything about cutie pox anyway. When did you become a Miss Know-It-All?"

"I'm sorry Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle apologized. "But you know, talking about my cutie mark and the cutie pox got me thinking..."

"Thinking 'bout what?"

"Well," Sweetie Belle began, "I got my cutie mark and I didn't have to go crusading at all to get it. It's kind of ironic that I wasted all that time crusading when I didn't need to do any of that after all."

The words struck Apple Bloom. "Wait... are you sayin' that crusading is a waste of time?"

"Well," Sweetie Belle tried to explain. "Now that I have my cutie mark, the idea of crusading sounds kinda silly when you stop and think about it."

Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle. "Ah wouldn't call it silly, at all."

Sweetie Belle was surprised by her friend's threatening look. "Whoa, hold on! I didn't mean it like that! I just thought it was kind of funny if you thought about it. You have to admit Apple Bloom, it is pretty ironic."

Apple Bloom got into Sweetie Belle's face. "Crusading. Ain't. Silly."

Before the situation escalated any further, Scootaloo quickly broke the two apart. "Ok, Apple Bloom, you're right. Crusading isn't silly. Can we just drop it right here?"

"Yeah. Let's drop it." Apple Bloom glared at Sweetie Belle before continuing down the path.

"Apple Bloom? I'm sorry." Sweetie Belle tried to apologize.

"Yeah, whatever." Apple Bloom replied without even looking back.

Sweetie Belle took another look at Apple Bloom and decided not to take the conversation any further. There had been other things she had thought about since she got her cutie mark, and she figured that sharing these thoughts right now wasn't going to help. She couldn't help thinking these things, but she still couldn't help but wonder. She got her cutie mark without crusading at all, and now that she finally got hers, it made her begin to reassess the whole Cutie Mark Crusader thing, her role in it, and its role on her. Did being in the cutie mark crusaders hold her back this whole time? Would she have gotten her cutie mark quicker on her own? Did she even need to be a crusader at all? Sweetie Belle chuckled at herself for thinking something so ridiculous in the first place. Even if crusading itself turned out to be a waste of time, it still led her to meeting her two very best friends, so being a Cutie Mark Crusader was worth it in the end.

"Hey Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo whispered in her ear, "what do you think got in to Apple Bloom?"

"Who knows," Sweetie Belle shrugged. She didn't want to spend anymore time worrying about Apple Bloom. She had other things to worry about. Particularly her new-found cutie mark.

"Hey Scootaloo? You want to hear about some of the ideas Rarity and I came up with for my cute-cenera?"

"Sure!" Scootaloo smiled.

"Well, we thought that we could go with a royal theme for the party, kind of like a smaller version of Twilight's Coronation."

"Cool! Hey, you could be Princess Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle blushed. "Gee, I think that's a bit too much for a cute-cenera."

Apple Bloom didn't partake in the conversation. She was still very annoyed over what Sweetie Belle said. She couldn't understand why just said those things about crusading. She never thought crusading was silly before. Did earning her cutie mark do something to her brain? Did she always think like this? She must have, right? It's the only explanation to where these crazy thoughts came from. Apple Bloom took a quick look towards Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo talking between themselves, and Apple Bloom felt a pang of irritation at the sight of Sweetie Belle gushing over her cute-cenera. The yellow earth filly was surprised she felt this way. After all, she was happy for Sweetie Belle, right? All of a sudden, Apple Bloom couldn't answer that question honestly anymore.

* * *

While most of Ponyville took the hiatus as a chance to unwind from a busy season three, Sugarcube Corner and the ponies in charge of it were busier than ever. It always seemed like it was a bit too much for Pinkie Pie to handle, with running the shop and running the show. But the end results of both endeavors, whether it be a 'Friendship is Magic' episode or a Sugarcube Corner party, made all the hard work well worth it, especially since she got to work with her best friends. On this particular day, Pinkie was hard at work with one of her oldest friends, Minty, at Sugarcube Corner.

"Hey Pinkie? I think we're running low on streamers!" Minty shouted.

"We've got more in the basement." Pinkie replied. "I'll get some after I put this cake in the oven. I hope we have enough though. We've got three more parties to plan this week!"

"Are you sure you're not being overworked, Pinkie?" Minty asked.

Pinkie simply giggled. "After everything we've been through with the show this summer, handling Sugarcube Corner is a piece of cake!"

"That reminds me," Minty suddenly remembered. "You never told me how everypony changed back from being human after Lyra's party."

"Heh, funny story actually..." Pinkie laughed nervously as a memory popped into her head.

* * *

_"So Lauren?" the humanoid Pinkie nervously asked the auburn-maned alicorn, "Do you think you can give us a little help here?"_

_Lauren looked round the room, taking a good look at all the ponies that were stuck as their human forms from Equestria Girls. She sighed. For starters, she couldn't believe she would be back in Equestria so suddenly, but Pinkie managed to call her back for this emergency. She also couldn't believe that everypony had this party without figuring out a way to change back to normal. As she closed her eyes to focused her magical energy, a warm white glow began to radiate from her horn. Within a few seconds, a bright flash shone through the entire room, enveloping everyone in it. The light seemed to linger for several moments before it finally faded. As everyone began to regain their senses, they quickly saw that they had been changed back to their normal pony selves. _

_"Thanks Lauren. I think we can take it from here." Celestia bowed her head in gratitude and began to walk away. _

_"Not so fast, Celestia!"_

_Lauren's sharp tone paralyzed the sun princess on the spot. Celestia nervously turned her head to see Lauren's deep frown aimed directly at her. _

_"You and I need to have a little talk."_

_Celestia gulped._

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's not everyday that you get to see Princess Celestia chewed out like that!" Pinkie pointed out.

Learning about Lauren's visit and the resulting scolding made Minty cringe. "Yikes! Is Celestia all right?"

Pinkie nodded. "She was a bit rattled in the moment, but Lauren forgave her. But she did tell her to be more careful next time."

Minty sighed in relief. "That's good. But I still can't imagine Celestia of all ponies being scolded!"

The two continued chatting when they heard the shop's front door bell ringing. Minty went up to meet the newcomer and saw that it was. When she got to the front of the store, she was met by the familiar figures of Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

"Howdy, Minty, is Pinkie here?" Applejack asked.

"Yes she is, hold on a sec..." Minty turned back to the storage room. "Hey, Pinkie? Come on up here! Look whose back!"

It didn't take very long for Pinkie to emerge from the storage room. She smiled as she saw the two newcomers.

"Rainbow Dash! Applejack! You're back! So how did the camping trip go?" Pinkie asked excitedly.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other nervously. With all their talk about the dire need to break the news to Pinkie, the two found themselves grossly unprepared to actually say it.

"It went… great!" Applejack eventually said as a response.

"Yeah… great…" Rainbow Dash nervously agreed.

The stilted response caught Pinkie as odd. "Are you sure? You don't sound that excited. Is everything all right?"

"Eeyup! Everything's just fine!" Applejack answered quickly. Unfortunately it was a bit too quickly as her face scrunched up in response to what she had said.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed at her friend's telling reaction. "Applejack, you're scrunching up!"

"Shoot! Ah really tried this time," Applejack cursed at herself.

Pinkie shifted her eyes at the two, confused at their odd behavior. She started to feel a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. "Applejack? Rainbow Dash? What's going on?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. There was no use beating around the bush anymore. "Listen Pinkie, something happened at the camping trip, and… we think it's gonna be bad news for the show."

Horror started to slowly grip Pinkie's form. _Oh no! Not again..._ She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "What happened?" she asked.

Applejack closed her eyes. "Well, you see…"

"You're pregnant!" Minty suddenly shouted out.

The wild guess took everyone by surprise. Applejack's eyes nearly popped out of her head due to the shock.

"WHAT?!" Applejack shouted back.

Minty's eyes grew wide. "You are, Applejack?"

"No! Ah'm not pregnant!" Applejack frowned.

Minty turned to Rainbow Dash. "So you're pregnant!"

Rainbow Dash's face twisted in disgust. "Are you kidding me? No way!"

Minty turned to Pinkie. "Then _you're_ pregnant!"

Pinkie quickly shook her head. "No I'm not!"

Minty gasped. "So that means that… _I'm_ pregnant?"

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "I... I don't even…"

"Minty, nopony's pregnant!" Pinkie reassured the mint pony. She cast a quick aside glance to Rainbow Dash. "Nopony _is_ pregnant, right?"

"Not anyone we know." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Minty scratched her head. "But… if nopony's pregnant, then what's the problem?"

"It's Sweetie Belle," Applejack answered.

Pinkie Pie gasped. "What happened to her? She isn't hurt, is she?"

Applejack shook her head. "Far from it. Ya see, Sweetie Belle…"

"Sweetie Belle kidnapped Spike and is holding him for ransom so she can get more screen time?" Minty guessed.

Applejack did a double take, again. "What?! No, Minty!"

"She won the lottery?"

"NO!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily.

"She was tricked into selling her soul and she's now a magical girl?"

Minty's latest wild guess left the other three confused. _Doesn't being a unicorn technically make her one already?_ Pinkie wondered.

"She got a cameo role on Pound Puppies and…. mmmph!"

Minty was surprised when Pinkie covered her mouth, making her unable to continue.

"Ok, seriously. What happened to Sweetie Belle?" Pinkie said as she kept Minty's mouth closed

Applejack sighed and broke the news straight. "Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark."

Pinkie's jaw dropped "WHAT?!"

"That was my next guess! I swear!" Minty insisted as she broke free from Pinkie's grasp.

Pinkie Pie sat on the floor, absolutely bewildered by the news she had just heard. "Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark?" she asked, her voiced hushed by the shock.

Applejack nodded. "It happened last night at the campsite. That's why we came straight here first." Pinkie inspected the cowpony's face. It was stone cold serious with no hint of scrunching whatsoever. That was more than enough for Pinkie to confirm the news was indeed true. She lowered her head, her mind racing with millions upon millions of thoughts to what the ramifications of this event were.

"We're sorry, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash apologized. "We didn't want to add anymore stress for the show for you, but we felt you had to know. Just promise us you're not gonna freak out over this."

Pinkie didn't respond. She simply kept sitting on the floor with her face downwards. Minty slowly approached her as she began to get concerned about Pinkie's eventual reaction.

"Pinkie? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Minty," she replied with a resigned sigh. "Well, I guess there's only one thing we can do now."

Pinkie suddenly bounced up from the floor and straight onto the kitchen counter.

"We have to throw Sweetie Belle the greatest cute-cenera Ponyville has ever seen!" the pink pony said with a huge smile. She quickly began to gather up everything she needed for the occasion. "This is gonna be so great! We're going to need to invite everypony! I hope Sugarcube Corner is big enough. Oh well, if it isn't then we can just have it in Applejack's barn! That's big enough for everypony! Speaking of big, we're going to need a really big cake for this! Maybe a 10 layer cake, what do you think girls? Wait! That's not gonna work, we'll never have enough frosting for 10 layers. Well maybe I can pull it off if I frost every layer a different color. Wait, what am I even thinking? This isn't Rainbow Dash's cute-cenera. Hey Dashie, how many layers were on your cute-cenera cake? I've always wanted to know."

Rainbow Dash blinked at the hurricane of words that had just hit her ears. "Well, it was a two layer cake and..." she quickly shook her head and regained her senses. "Wait a minute! You're not worried about this at all, Pinkie?"

Pinkie smiled and shook her head. "Nope!"

"You're not going to panic over this? Even a little?" Applejack asked.

"Nuh-uh!"

"But… a Cutie Mark Crusader with a cutie mark doesn't make any sense," Applejack pointed out.

"I know! Isn't it great?"

"So... what are we going to do about the show then?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That's the best part! I have no idea!" Pinkie grinned.

Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack in concern. "I think we just broke Pinkie Pie!"

Pinkie shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I really am glad for Sweetie Belle and I couldn't care less about the show. But even if I did, we still have a few months before we start filming again. In fact, we could even make an episode out of all this! This isn't like when Twilight became an alicorn and we only had a week to figure things out. We've got more than enough time!"

"Well, that explains why you're taking this so well," Minty observed.

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, RD and I thought you'd flip out over this worse than when you found out about Equestria Girls!"

Pinkie chuckled nervously. "I know, but after everything we've been through recently, I think I've learned how to handle these kinds of things now. I've learned my lesson."

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Ha! I'll say! Looks like you're little talk with Lauren after the party really did set you straight, huh Pinkie?"

"Yeah. It really did." Pinkie blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Wait," Minty interrupted. "Lauren talked with Pinkie? Pinkie just told me she talked with Celestia after that party."

"She did at first," Applejack explained. "But that was nothing compared to the tongue lashing she gave Pinkie for how she treated Lyra. Hoo doggy, Ah've never seen anything like it."

Pinkie turned a deep shade of red as the memory of the incident replayed in her head. While Celestia did get chewed out for almost trapping all of Ponyville as humans, it still paled in comparison to how Lauren chewed her out on her overreaction to Equestria Girls. She could barely remember the actual event itself, but she did remember thinking at one point that even Nightmare Moon herself would have been shaken to her core. However, Pinkie stood through it all and took it like a grown mare. She deserved it after the way she acted back then. Thankfully, and to Pinkie's surprise, Lauren give her a big hug at the end and told her she was so proud her her to have resolved the issue like she had.

Pinkie shook the memory away and snapped back into the current issue at hoof. "Hey! Wasn't there a cute-cenera we needed to plan? What do you say we get back to that?"

"Sure!" Minty replied. "There's a lot of things we have to do for this!"

"Ah know Rarity has a few ideas," Applejack informed the party planners.

"I'll get Rarity and Sweetie Belle over here!" Rainbow Dash spoke up. "We can't plan this party without them!"

Sugarcube Corner worked overtime that night as the plans for the greatest cute-cenera ever began to take shape.

* * *

It was late at night when Applejack returned home to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom had been sent to bed and Granny Smith was fast asleep in her favorite chair. Big Macintosh stayed up to finish a few kitchen chores when his sister finally returned home to share the good news about how well things went over at Sugarcube Corner. The stallion was left confused.

"So you're telling me that Pinkie was actually happy 'bout all this?" he asked his sister.

"Eeyup!" Applejack nodded with a smile.

"She didn't panic at all? Even a little?"

"Nope!"

"And, there's a good chance she'll even write this into the show too?"

"Eeyup!"

Big Mac shook his head in disbelief. "Wow. Ah'm speechless."

Applejack laughed. "Ah know. Ah couldn't believe it either! Ah can't wait to tell Apple Bloom! You should have seen how happy she was when Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark!"

"Actually," Big Mac informed her, "She hasn't said much of anything since she came back home. She's been mostly quiet all day."

Applejack found this information odd. "She has?"

"Eeyup."

"Hmm... Ah guess she's just tired from the long trip," Applejack guessed. "It has been pretty exhausting since last night."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, their little sister was listening in to the conversation from the very top of the stairs. She heard all she needed to hear before she returned to her bedroom. She couldn't believe it. Everypony was happy for Sweetie Belle. Even Pinkie Pie herself couldn't have cared less about having a cutie-marked Crusader. Everypony was happy, except her. Her mind was swimming in thoughts as she flopped onto her bed. Earning a cutie mark was what they wanted, right? It was what they waited their whole lives for. And now it's finally happened for one of them. So why wasn't she happy?

Apple Bloom frowned. She knew why she wasn't happy. It was Sweetie Belle. The way she acted today rubbed her the wrong way. Just because she didn't get her cutie mark from crusading, doesn't give her the right to dismiss crusading as "silly" or a "waste of time". Was there more 'pearls of wisdom' to come from the unicorn? What if these thoughts led Sweetie Belle to become worse than Diamond Tiara's character in the show. Apple Bloom never thought she would ever think anything like this, but she was beginning to prefer Sweetie Belle as a blank flank. Yes, she wasn't liking this new pony Sweetie Belle was becoming. She wanted the old blank-flanked Sweetie Belle back. A few moments in deep thought later, a smile crept on Apple Bloom's face. She knew what she had to do to get the old Sweetie Belle back.


End file.
